


Standing on the Edge of New Beginnings

by sunshineandkoalas



Category: The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Human AU, M/M, loki and thor aren't related, mostly peter/tony and loki/thor, they all live in the same apartment building
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-11
Updated: 2021-02-11
Packaged: 2021-03-17 09:34:24
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,892
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29348223
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunshineandkoalas/pseuds/sunshineandkoalas
Summary: AU where (almost) everyone lives in one apartment complex
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers, Loki/Thor (Marvel), Other Minor Relationships, Peter Parker/Tony Stark
Comments: 1
Kudos: 19





	Standing on the Edge of New Beginnings

Peter thought it was strange that he had to go through such extensive reviewing to get an apartment but it was in a nice area and the bills were supposed to be reasonably priced, if not incredibly cheap for the area. The building was notorious for continuously turning people away. Peter applied for a few different apartments but got his approval letter for the strange building back almost immediately.

The building was supposed to be nice and have good neighbours. The parking lot was fenced in and locked with a keypad. Peter received the key code along with two keys to the apartment. His apartment was on the top floor. The building manager was a man named James Rhodes, but he told Peter to just call him Rhodey.

“Do you own the building?” Peter had asked.

“No.” Peter was surprised Rhodey didn’t elaborate, but they didn’t really talk after that.

He walked Peter through the apartment quickly, pointing out a few things, and then left. Peter explored on his own for a few moments. He could kind of hear his neighbours but it was more of a gentle hum than an annoying occurrence. He was excited to have his own place.

He moved everything in mostly by himself since Aunt May was working. A blond man from the first floor noticed he was moving in and offered to help.  _ He’s pretty handsome _ , Peter thought. As he got closer, Peter noticed he was pretty large, too.

“Hi! I’m Thor. Are you moving into 1B?”

“I’m Peter, but, no, I’m actually moving into 4C.” Thor nodded and asked to grab a box. He then followed Peter up and into the apartment.

When Thor started helping, everything went much faster. Thor invited him over for lunch, since Peter didn’t have any food at his place. As they were going down to the first floor, the elevator stopped at the second floor. A dark haired man entered, looking incredibly serious. Thor nervously shifted, but soon they all stepped off the elevator anyway.

“Who was that?” Peter asked after they stepped into Thor’s apartment and out of earshot of the dark haired man.

“Loki Laufeyson. I see him a lot. I don’t think he likes me though. He always looks angry.” Thor didn’t make eye contact as he spoke.

“Maybe you just need to get to know him. I’m sure he’s much nicer than he seems.” Peter smiled, hoping to ease Thor’s apprehension.

Thor gave Peter a muffin and made him a cup of tea. They talked for a little bit, just about trivial things. Unable to contain himself, Peter ended up asking about the other tenants.

“You live next to some of my friends. Steve and Sam are in 4A and Clint and Natasha are in 4D. I think the guy in 4B is new, too, actually.”

“I thought the apartments only had one bedroom? Not that Sam can’t be a girl’s name or that Sam and Steve couldn’t be gay or anything—” Thor began to laugh.

“Apartments on the outside, so A and D apartments, have two rooms. B and C apartments only have one room. Sam and Steve are just friends.”

“Oh, okay. Do you know anyone else in the building?”

“Uh, Vis in 3B and Bruce in 2C.”

“Vis?”

“His name is Edwin Jarvis. We call him Vision or Vis. I don’t really know why, it’s just a thing my friends do.” Peter just nods.

“Well, Mr. Thor, it was really nice to meet you! Thank you so much for helping me take my stuff to my apartment. Hopefully I’ll see you around?”

“Of course, Peter! You are welcome to stop by whenever you’d like!” Peter smiled and nodded again, waving to Thor as he walked out the door. The ride in the elevator wasn’t  long, but it gave him a second to think. The building seemed strange, but at least one of his neighbours is nice.

Just as Peter is unlocking his door, a man and woman walk out of the apartment to his right. They’re deep in conversation, so they don’t notice Peter. As they’re walking to the elevator, however, the man walks into Peter.

“Oh, I’m so sorry! I didn’t see you. Are you our new neighbour?” Peter fumbles for a second, holding onto the now unlocked door knob.

“Yeah, I just moved in this morning. I’m Peter.” Peter reaches his free hand out to shake theirs. The man shook first.

“I’m Clint.” The woman shakes his hand next. Peter remembered Thor mentioning these two earlier.

“I’m Natasha. My friends call me Nat.” Peter nods, feeling out of place.

“Well, we hope you like your place, but we have to get going. It was nice to meet you!” Clint said. They waved and walked to the elevator, continuing their conversation as if it had never ended. Strange.

The building was quiet, so Peter played music while he unpacked. He enjoyed the monotony of building furniture and putting things away. Later in the evening, Peter realised that he was hungry but had no food in his apartment. He debated whether he wanted to cook or just buy something. He settled on the latter since he wasn’t ready to have to clean his apartment already. He bumped into yet another new person on his way out, but this one he recognised. He knew that he didn’t live here. If he did, Peter  _ definitely  _ couldn’t afford this place.

“I… I’m so sorry.” Peter surely looked like a deer caught in headlights, but the man just laughed.

“That’s alright, kid. Where are you going in such a hurry?”

“Just to get something to eat. I didn’t mean to run into you, sir.” Peter was beyond flustered at this point. He thought the man on the first floor was handsome, but the man in front of him beat him by  _ miles _ . Probably because Peter had had a crush on him for years.

“Please, call me Tony.”

“I honestly don’t think I can do that, sir,” Peter awkwardly laughed. Tony Stark cracked a smile, and Peter knew he needed to leave before he said something else stupid.

“Well, I don’t want to keep you since I’m sure someone is waiting on you. I hope to see you again, though?”

“No one is waiting on me, but I am pretty hungry. It was nice to meet you, Mr. Stark.”

“You, too…?”

“Peter Parker.” 

“It was nice to meet you, too, Peter.” He turned to leave, a clear smile on his face, which caused Tony to smile back.

Peter knocked on Thor’s door on his way out the building, who looked excited to see Peter in his doorway. Before Thor could say anything, Peter excitedly gushed about Tony Stark, to which Thor just smiled. Peter didn’t notice the smirk until he stopped talking.

“What is that for?” Peter asked, pointing at Thor’s mouth.

“Tony is a friend of mine.” Thor let out a small laugh at the horrified look on Peter’s face.

“Oh, no.” Peter covered his face in shame.

“You listened to me talk about Loki. I won’t tell Tony about your little crush.” Peter sighed in relief. Thor laughed again, leaning against the door frame slightly.

“Okay, well do you want to go get dinner with me? I need to eat and then keep unpacking but I don’t want to go eat on my own.” Thor agreed and they set out. Thor drove a big maroon truck that Peter struggled to climb up into, causing Thor to laugh both times Peter had to get in.

Peter was too tired to do anything other than sleep when he got back. His bed was messy and mostly unmade and he didn’t bother fixing it. He glanced out his bedroom window before getting in bed, looking out to the parking lot behind the building. The expensive car that had been there when he and Thor had left was now gone.

Peter woke up to knocking on his door, but it wasn’t too early, only late morning or so. He answered it, expecting Thor, but instead was greeted by two unfamiliar faces. Peter was kind of intimidated by them, but did his best not to show it.

“Hello?”

“Hi, we’re your neighbours in 4A. I’m Steve and this is my friend, Sam.”

“I’m Peter. Thor told me about you, actually. He helped me move in yesterday.” 

“We actually didn’t know you’d moved in until Tony told us. He said you met him in the hallway?” Sam said.

“Yeah, I did. He was really nice.”

“Well, Sam and I were just wondering if you were having a housewarming, meet-the-neighbours kind of thing or if we should just bring something by?” Peter thought for a second, trying to keep up with the conversation despite his sleepy brain.

“I hadn’t planned on it, but it’s a good idea! I think I’ll have a party or something. You really don’t have to bring anything, though. I just want to get to know my neighbours.” Steve laughed.

“He’s going to bring something whether you tell him to or not,” Sam mock-whispered.

They talked for a bit longer, but Sam led Steve away after a while, apologising to Peter for taking up so much of his time. Peter was about to close his door when the elevator dinged and opened and he watched a stranger disappear into 4B. He noticed Steve’s stare and Sam’s rolled eyes.  _ Maybe this party thing is a good idea after all. Apparently everyone in the building has a crush on someone else _ , Peter thought.

He and Thor had shared phone numbers the night before, so Peter texted him to let him know about the party idea. Thor immediately texted back telling him he’d be at his apartment in five minutes. Peter timed him.

“You said five, but you made it here in two,” Peter said, holding open the door. Thor laughed.

“I’m excited about your housewarming party, okay? We’re inviting all the neighbours, right?” Peter rolled his eyes.

“Yes, Thor. I’m inviting Loki.” 

Peter decided to have the party next Saturday, giving them a week and a half to plan it and invite everyone. Peter came up with the idea to tape the invitations to their doors and Thor came up with the idea of playing games to get to know each other.

They unpacked Peter’s apartment when they weren’t working, talking about things to add to the party. After a couple days of planning, Peter printed out the invitations on bright blue paper and taped them on the doors while Thor built his bookshelf and desk. He was much faster than Peter, so they compromised.

Peter worked his way from the fourth floor down, putting invitations on every door except for his own and 1B, the empty apartment, because Thor was adamant about having his own invitation. He was putting an invitation on 1D when none other than Tony Stark came through the front door.

“Hello, Peter.”

“Hello, sir. Are you visiting Steve and Sam again?” Tony had a small bit of shock on his face for a brief second.

“Yes. How do you know who I’m visiting?”

“I’m friends with Thor. I’m actually heading back up right now, if you want to ride the elevator with me?”  _ Of course he does. What’s he going to do, wait for it to go all the way up and then back down again, you idiot? _ Peter thought. To his relief, Tony smiled and nodded, pressing the button to call the elevator.

“What do you have there?” He gestured to the extra invitation in Peter’s hand while they were stepping onto the elevator.

“I’m having a party next Saturday to get to know my neighbours,” Peter handed him the paper, “You can come if you want, Mr. Stark. If you aren’t too busy, of course.” 

“I don’t think I’m doing anything too important that day. Save me a spot, hm?” Peter blushed and nodded.

“Of course, sir.” Tony laughed lightly, while the doors opened.

Peter was still buzzing with excitement when he closed his apartment door. Thor was in the living room, finishing up the bookshelf. He only had to glance over to see the look on Peter’s face. He laughed and shook his head.

“Did you run into Tony again?”

“Nope.”

“So you’re blushing and leaning against the door frame because…?” Peter didn’t say anything, just sat on the floor next to Thor.

“He wants to come to the party!” Peter said after a few minutes.

“I planned on inviting him anyway.” Peter jokingly hit Thor’s arm in mock anger but Thor just laughed. Peter was glad he’d found a friend in the building. MJ and Ned had both left the city for college, so he didn’t get to see them as often. He’d opted for online schooling so he didn’t have to travel far from Aunt May.

A few days later, Natasha knocked on Peter’s door, holding a few little succulents, a small smile on her face. She still looked serious, but the smile was kind, if not a little nervous.

“Peter, right?”

“Yeah. And you’re Natasha?” She nodded.

“I brought you these because Thor said you had a huge bookshelf without any decorations or plants to put on it.” Peter smiled and welcomed her in, gesturing for her to walk wherever she wanted.

The bookshelf was in the corner of the living room, only filled by his favourite books and the textbooks that he needed. The bookshelf was too big for what he had, but he planned on living here for a while and acquiring more of his own things to fill it.

“The succulents are fake so they don’t need watered. I just thought they’d be cute.”

“They are! Thank you so much; you really didn’t have to bring me anything at all.” Natasha helped Peter put the plants onto the shelves, ignoring what he said.

“So, about your party this weekend, did you invite everyone in the building?”

“Yeah, I put those papers on everyone’s doors. I don’t think too many people will show up though.” Natasha smiled.

“I think you’d be surprised. I know that Thor, Steve, Sam, Clint, Bruce, Vision, and I are all going. Tony said you gave him an invitation, too. He seemed pretty excited about it.” Peter tried to hide his giddy expression immediately after it passed over his face.

“Yeah, but that’s not even half of the people in the building. I’m sure it’ll still be fun, I’m just trying not to get my hopes up too high.” Natasha nodded in understanding.

They moved over to sit on the couch, continuing to talk over the details of the party that weren’t included on the invitation.

“Thor wants to play games and stuff. He’s in charge of them all, so hopefully they’re not too boring or crazy.”

“He might go overboard. He’s been wanting to have a party with us for a while to play party games, but we just thought it would be kind of boring since we normally all just hang around and drink or something. You’re too young to drink, aren’t you?”

“Legally, I’m too young. Thor is buying some stuff though. Wine, champagne, beer, that sort of thing. I might drink champagne or wine but not much.” Natasha nodded slowly in understanding.

“What else are we doing at this party?”

“I’m planning to cook and bake some stuff with Thor and my aunt. Probably just that; food and games.”

“Thor can’t cook,” Natasha said, laughing. Peter laughed a bit, too.

“I didn’t think he could, that’s why my Aunt May is helping, too. I just didn’t want him to feel left out. He and I have become close friends pretty quickly.” There was a knock on the door, so Peter got up to answer it, finding both Clint and Thor on the other side.

“Hey, Natasha is in the living room.” Peter opened the door wider to let them in, so they both stepped around him to walk in. Peter’s couch was quite small so Peter stayed standing, letting the other three sit there.

Peter couldn’t help but notice the closeness of Natasha and Clint, though Thor seemed oblivious to it. He didn’t know if that was because Thor knew them or if it was that Thor was just oblivious in general.  _ Definitely just oblivious _ , Peter thought.

The four of them sat around and talked for a bit, mostly about the party or the building. As Clint and Natasha were getting up to leave, there was a knock on his door  _ again _ . Thor opened it this time, seeing Tony. Peter was suddenly very self conscious about what he was wearing, since it was just fitted tartan shorts with lace along the hem and a fitted t-shirt. Though, to be fair, he hadn’t expected to leave his apartment or to have people over.

“Hey, Peter, I’m going to go, too. I’ll see you later, okay?” Peter didn’t get a chance to answer before he was suddenly alone in his apartment with just Tony Stark.

“Hello, sir. Is there something I can help you with?”  _ That was too formal, idiot, _ Peter thought, cringing internally.

“I came to visit Steve and Sam and wanted to talk to you. Normally, I see you in the hall, but I didn’t this time and it felt strange not to see you.” Peter couldn’t help the blush that bloomed across his cheeks.

“Well, do you want something to drink? I don’t have much, but—” Tony just laughed lightly and shook his head.

“That’s alright, Peter. I just wanted to chat.” Peter noticed Tony’s eyes scan over his body quickly, then meeting his eyes again. The red in his cheeks darkened.

“Oh, okay. What do you want to talk about?”

“Well, how are you liking the apartment?” Tony walked over to sit on the couch so Peter followed. He didn’t sit too far away but not too close either. He probably over-thought his actions a little too much while around Tony.

“I love it! It’s really nice and I can afford it on my own, which is nice. My hours at work keep getting cut though, so I’ll probably have to find a second one soon.”

“Where do you work?” Tony asked, shifting closer to Peter.

“Just a little bar down the street. I get hit on a lot so I don’t mind not having to go all the time. It just sucks because I need the money, obviously.”

“Do you have a second job in mind?” Peter shook his head.

“I haven’t thought about it much. I’ve been focused on the apartment and the party and college and everything. It’s at the back of my mind.” Peter pressed his face into his hands, exasperated that he’d let himself get so far off track. Tony squeezed Peter’s shoulder.

“It’ll be alright, kid. Just start looking around. I’m sure you’ll find something. You still have the bar job, so there’s no rush.”

“You’re right, Mr. Stark. Thanks.” Peter looked up and smiled, grateful to have a voice of reason around.

“Well, I’ve already stayed too long. Pepper will be mad that I’m late. It was great to see you again, Peter.” Tony left, waving at Peter before closing the door.

Peter quickly texted Thor:  _ Who’s Pepper?? Is he married???? _

Thor took entirely too long to text back. Peter paced his apartment a few times before his phone finally buzzed, and he basically tripped over himself to get to it.

_ Pepper works with Tony. They’re partners or something. Pepper is married. _

Peter sighed in relief, before remembering that he had an assignment due at midnight. He knew he’d been planning to stay home for a reason. Not a good one, arguably, but a reason nonetheless.

Peter didn’t see any of his neighbours for a couple days, being swamped with work, college, and unpacking. Friday was a welcome break, since Aunt May and Thor were coming over to cook and bake. He also didn’t have any homework due for once and he had two days off from work.

He cleaned as much as he could, but realised that Aunt May would have to bring things to cook with, because he still had next to nothing. He grumbled in frustration, leaning against the island of his kitchen. He was about to call her when someone knocked. 

“Hold on!” Peter wandered into his bedroom to find clean pants, since he’d just been wearing underwear and a baggy t-shirt. He found joggers on the floor and they seemed clean enough.

He opened the door to Thor and Tony who had bags of food in their hands.

“Wha—It’s barely eleven, why are you here? And why are  _ you  _ here?” Peter turned to Tony when he said the last sentence, then realised how harsh it sounded.

“We’re here to help. Thor mentioned that you didn’t have much to work with so here we are. I cleared my schedule for this. It seemed like a lot more fun anyway.” Peter smiled.

“Let me call Aunt May and see when she’ll be here.”

They cooked from about noon to seven that night, then Aunt May had to rush off to get some sleep before her shift the next day. The other three finished the things they were working on, putting them away for the party the next day.

“Well, I’ll see you both tomorrow! I have some stuff to do before I go to bed,” Thor said, excusing himself. He winked at Peter when Tony looked away, then slipped out the door.

“Do you want to watch a movie? I don’t have anything to do until Monday at eight, so I’ll be pretty bored if I go home right now.” Peter couldn’t help but stare at the laugh lines around Tony’s eyes when he smiled.  _ God, this man is gorgeous _ , Peter thought.

“Yeah, sure. The drawers under the bookshelf have all my movies in them. You can pick one while I make some tea for us?”

“I’m not the best at picking movies, but I’ll try my best.”

“Well, I’ve approved them all, so you have a pretty easy selection to choose from.” Peter smiled and basically skipped off to the kitchen.

When he got back, Tony was putting the movie in. They sat together on the couch, Peter handing Tony his tea when he sat down. Their shoulders were barely touching, but Peter relished in it anyway.

Peter couldn’t help but snicker when he realised that Tony chose  _ Love Actually _ .

“What? I haven’t seen this movie in awhile and it’s long so I have more of an excuse to stay here with you.” Peter blushed bright red at that.

“You don’t need an excuse,” Peter mumbled. He scooted a little closer, pressing their shoulders more firmly together, with their thighs barely touching.

“Is that right?” Peter just nodded and watched the movie.

They barely got half way through when Peter started to fall asleep. He didn’t notice until Tony was moving him into a more comfortable position and the credits of the movie were scrolling across the screen.

“Hey,” Peter mumbled.

“Hey, sleepyhead. I was just laying you down. Go back to sleep.” Tony covered him up and slipped out the door, then Peter fell back asleep, dreaming of what could’ve happened if he’d stayed.


End file.
